


Nectar and Blossoms

by penumbralsea



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Depression, Eventual Romance, F/F, Family Issues, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gender Dysphoria, Love, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Trans Female Character, Transgender, Transphobia, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21787594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penumbralsea/pseuds/penumbralsea
Summary: It's been so long since Daisy visited her best friend's castle. Sure, they've seen each other at events and written to each other, of course. And yet, it's not quite the same, really. But Daisy has two secrets no one can ever find out, especially not Peach.(⚠️Content Warning: Gender Dysphoria, Internalized Transphobia, Unintentional Transphobia)Rating, Tags, and Warnings will be updated if and when necessary.
Relationships: Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool/Princess Daisy
Comments: 17
Kudos: 85





	1. Nostalgia's Sake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't posted any writing online in a very long time so I thought why not start with fan fiction. Plus, there's never enough trans lesbian content out there.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story.

So much pink.

From the carpet, to the bed sheets, to the furniture; Princess Peach’s room was filled to the brim with pink. It had been a long time since she last visited her best friend’s castle, let alone been in her room. Before either of them even had any real power or influence over their respective kingdoms. Daisy glanced around the room, looking at how immaculate the room was kept. 

“Sorry that took so long!” called out a familiar voice.

Peach entered her room wearing her crown, one of her many signature pink dresses, and a warm smile. She joined Daisy on the edge of the bed.

“I tried to finish today’s business quicker but Bowser tried raiding some concert because he thought I was there.” A small look of worry grew on her face. “And it was a whole mess and— well, no one got hurt thankfully so everything’s fine!” her smile returned.

“That’s good...”

Silence filled the room for what felt like an eternity. Daisy’s thoughts run wild, already thinking this was a terrible idea. It’s been too long as they don’t have anything in common anymore. This whole reunion was a mistake.

“So… what have you been up to? Your father just named you regent last year, right?”

Daisy nodded.

“How have you been holding up? It’s… it’s a lot more responsibility than you first expect. I know I struggled a lot when my father did the same.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. Really doesn’t help that I’ve got that dumb koopa king chasing after me every few months. I’m just glad I have Toadsworth and Mario to help with everything.”

“Must be nice to have people care about you.”

Daisy’s eyes went wide, she shouldn’t have said that out loud.

“Haha, woops, sorry, it’s really no—”

Peach leaned over and hugged her tightly.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t been a very good friend to you.”

She looked at her friend in confusion.

“Hey, it’s fine, Peach. We’re both just really busy. It’s been fine just writing to each other.”

Peach looked up.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Promise.”

Daisy smiled at her. It wasn’t genuine but nobody would know otherwise. Peach perked up and smiled back at her.

“Well! Now that the emotional reunions are out of the way, we should head into Toad Town, there’s a new ice cream shop I’ve been dying to try out!”

“Oh, uh, I don’t really think I have any clothes to go out in. My dad told me I have to look respectable at all times.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, I’ll just ask one of the servants to fetch you some.”

“Wait what.”

Peach opened her bedroom door to a toad standing outside it.

“Could you please fetch some casual attire for Florian?”

Daisy had to hold back a wince at hearing her name spoken aloud.

* * *

The King of Sarasaland stepped forward, out onto the castle’s balcony overlooking the vast crowd of his subjects. Daisy stood next to him, wearing an uncomfortable look on her face. She was incredibly glad this wasn’t being televised like Peach’s ceremony was.

“Today is a momentous occasion. Though I have long ruled Sarasaland to the best of my abilities, I still seek to maintain a prosperous kingdom long after I have gone. Today is Prince Florian’s 25th birthday and so he is by law, seen fit to rule the kingdom. Starting today I will begin slowly passing my responsibilities as King onto Prince Florian. Of course, I shall remain to give him council should he need it and I will still have ultimate authority in all matters. But, I trust my son to do everything in his power to rule this kingdom justly.”

The audience roared with applause and cheering.

Daisy just wanted the day over with.

* * *

“Here are your orders, enjoy!” 

The Boo waitress placed a hot fudge sundae and a caramel milkshake on the table before smiling and floating off. Daisy took a sip of her shake and for a brief moment it felt as if all her troubles melted away.

“Oh! This is really good.”

As peach went in for a second spoonful of her sundae she smiled.

“I have a keen eye for good desserts,” she boasted.

“Hah. Can’t argue with that. How’s the sundae?”

Peach grabbed a spoonful and leaned across the table, sticking it out.

“Here, try some. You can let me try your shake as payment,” Peach winked and stuck her tongue out.

Daisy did her best to hold back a blush and held up her hand to grab the spoon from Peach’s hand. What she wasn’t expecting was for Peach to feed it to her directly. She really liked it though.

The sundae, of course.

“Y-yeah, that’s pretty good.”

Peach grabbed the shake as she leaned back, taking a sip of the shake. Daisy tried her best not to stare at her best friend’s cute pink lips wrapped around a twisty straw, or the way she lightly licked them when she was done.

“I wonder if they’d be willing to do dessert catering for a party?”

The question caught Daisy off guard and brought her back from spacing out inappropriately over her friend’s lips. 

“Oh, that’d be nice.”

* * *

Peach and Daisy collapsed on the bed. Despite the discomfort, Daisy was still happy she decided to visit. 

“Are you staying the night?”

“Oh, I… I wasn’t planning on it.”

“You sure? It’s past midnight.”

“Oh, shoot!” Daisy shot up to her feet. “My dad wanted me to check in with him like two hours ago. Can I use your phone?”

“Of course. I’m just gonna take a bath and get changed so feel free to use mine.”

“Thank you!”

Peach got up, grabbed some clothes from her drawers and closed the door to the bathroom. Daisy sat down on Peach’s bed next to her bedside table and picked up the receiver, quickly dialing her castle’s personal line.

“Hello, Sigmund speaking.”

“Oh, Siggy? Is my dad already asleep?”

“Ah, Prince Florian. Yes your father retired to his room a few minutes ago. If I recall, you were meant to check in with him at Ten o’clock.”

“Yeah… sorry. I just got caught up with what I was doing.”

“I understand. Will you be spending the night at Princess Peach’s castle?”

“Oh uh, yeah. I guess so.”

“Very good. Have a pleasant night, Prince Florian.”

“Y-yeah, you too Siggy.”

Daisy hung up the phone, relieved that she didn’t need to speak to her father tonight. She fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes. She was tired of how overprotective he’d been ever since she’d been kidnapped _once._ It took months of convincing him to let her leave the kingdom for even a single day. It was unbearable not having a single iota of privacy well into her twenties. 

She felt the bed shift.

“Everything good, sleepyhead?” she heard to her left.

She opened her eyes and saw Peach in a tank top and pajama shorts. 

“O-oh, um, yeah. I guess I’m staying the night,” Daisy said quietly, pretending not to stare.

“Hey, remember all the slumber parties we used to have as kids?” Peach asked with a look of nostalgia on her face. Daisy’s memories came flooding back.

“Oh my gosh, how could I not. I have never seen Toadsworth get as angry as he was when we pranked him into thinking you got kidnapped.”

“I’ve never seen Toadsworth get angry ever! He spent almost an hour lecturing us.”

“Pffft, he was mostly lecturing me. I’m the one who made that fake ransom letter after all.”

“It was really convincing, you’d make a good villain you know.”

“Hah, no way. I just read too many books as a kid.”

The two spent a few more minutes reminiscing over the dumb things they did as kids, laughing at the dumb things they did together.

“Oh, remember that time you tried on some of my dresses?”

“D-did I? I don’t think I remember,” she lied through her teeth.

“What! No way, you really don’t remember? We even put on a little fashion show for some of the younger toad girls in the courtyard. They all loved you.”

“They were just being polite,” Daisy replied curtly.

Silence loomed over the room once more.

“Florian, is everything okay?” There was genuine concern in her voice.

“I’m just tired.” 

“Yeah... Let’s get you set up in one of the guest rooms then.”

* * *

Idiot. 

Daisy laid in bed face down, her head stuffed under the pillows. She ran hundreds of scenarios through her head, but no matter what she did they all ended the same way.

_I can’t let anyone find out,_ she thought. _Everyone will think I’m a freak._

_She’ll think I’m a freak._

She sluggishly pulled herself of bed and walked to the bathroom. Her thoughts were tormenting her worse than usual tonight. She desperately needed them to stop. She pulled the stopper rod up and filled the sink with cold water. She bent down and stuck her head in the water and waited.

And waited.

Until she ran out of breath. 

She pulled her head out of the sink and gasped for air quickly and deeply. Her short hair was soaked and dripping down her face and neck. She stared at the wall mounted mirror in front of her, a towel hastily draped over it. She was almost tempted to look herself in the face.

Instead, she grabbed a different towel and dried her head as best as she could before sitting down on the toilet. She leaned forward and put her face in her hands.

Tears flowed down her hands, but only for a brief moment. She couldn’t allow herself to cry. It was pathetic for someone of her status to be reduced to tears over something as ridiculous as this.

* * *

Daisy roamed through the halls of the castle. For as long as she and Peach had been friends, she always knew there were several gaps in the night patrols from the guest rooms to the courtyard. Daisy could always easily slip past the night patrols until she found her way to the courtyard, and thankfully her memory hadn’t betrayed her this time either.

The warm summer breeze felt pleasant on her skin as she stepped outside. She was glad the courtyard was still kept dimly lit at night even after all these years. As much as she liked Peach, she also made her anxious, especially when she stayed the night. The courtyard at night was her special place, though. Nobody was ever here this late, and sitting at the ledge of the Eternal Star fountain always managed to calm her down and let her relax.

She was so very glad it still had that effect on her.

She sat by the fountain for almost an hour, just staring at how inky the water looked at night. 

“Florian?” 

She froze.

“What are you doing out here so late?”

_What is she doing here?_ Daisy thought.

“What are you doing here?” She repeated aloud.

“I… opened the door to your room to make sure you were okay but, you weren’t there.”

“...How’d you know I’d be here though?” Daisy asked.

“You left the courtyard door open.”

“Oh.”

Once more, a heavy silence plagues the air.

Peach took the initiative and sat down next to Daisy on the ledge.

“I know we’ve been kind of distant from each other the past few years but, I’d really like it if we could go back to the way things were. It’s been really nice spending time with you again.”

Daisy just stared down at her feet.

“If something’s wrong, you can always just talk to me about it.”

_I can’t._

“Your birthday’s next month, right? You should come over again. We don’t need to have a big party, it can just be the two of us.”

“I don’t think my father would allow it.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“Really, I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me but, no thank you.”

She tried to fool Peach with an empty smile, but Daisy’s eyes look drained of any spark they may have once had. She stood up and started walking toward the entrance.

Peach clenched her fists and shot up after her.

“ _Damn it,_ Florian! Just _talk_ to me! I know you’re keeping something from me. I _want_ to help you but I can’t if you keep it all locked up! ”

Daisy stopped at the threshold.

_Don’t._

She stood at the door, frozen.

_She won’t understand._

Her hands balled up into tight fists.

_She’ll hurt you worse than anyone else._

“Florian?”

_You’ll regret everything._

“Daisy.”

Peach tilted her head, confused.

“My name is Daisy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.


	2. Hi, I'm Daisy

It felt like time stood still.

The winds of hell crashed against her skin. Blinding lights seared her vision. Her heart alternated between remaining frozen in place and beating so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Echoes of unrecognizable speech pierced through her ears, the inhuman language reverberating within her skull.

A scalding touch was felt upon her hand, a surge of panic engulfed every cell of her body.

Daisy pulled her hand back and clutched it tightly against her chest. Another verbal barrage came forth.

“—octor?” A familiar voice faded into audible range, distress mixed into it’s worrisome tone.

The wind died, the lights dimmed, but her heart remained in constant flux.

She felt another horrific burn against the bare skin of her arm, the nerve endings exploding from an almost unimaginable pain. Daisy never imagined skin so soft and delicate could feel so caustic. She glanced down at her arm, almost expecting to see charred skin and melted bone in the shape of a hand. With all of her strength she pulled away, slamming her back into the opened door against the wall.

“Don’t!” Daisy screamed.

A few lights flickered on from the windows overlooking the courtyard. Peach unwittingly stared at Daisy with a blend of hurt and concern on her face.

“P-please just… d-don’t touch me… please…” Daisy barely stuttered out the words in between her erratic breathing.

Daisy’s legs finally began to give out as she slid down the door. She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them with what little strength remained inside her. She was afraid Peach could hear her quiet sobs in between the struggling gasps for air.

Through her blurry vision she saw Peach sit down next to her. Close enough to comfort her but just far enough not to hurt her. Daisy wanted to say something, anything, but her raspy breathing was all she could muster while she tried to hold back her crying.

“I’ll…” She paused for a moment. “I’ll be right here with you. For as long as you need,” Peach spoke gently. 

The two of them sat there for a while, uncomfortable and terrified.

* * *

Light cracked through a small gap between the curtains next to the bed. Daisy shifted as the light hit her closed eyelids. She slowly began to wake up. Once more, she was in the guest bedroom. Alone and terrified.

At least, she thought she was alone.

She looked opposite the window and saw a big pink armchair had been pushed up near the bed. Peach was curled up asleep on it, almost camouflaged among the pink upholstery.

Daisy sat up and saw the analog alarm clock on her bedside table.

Quarter past two.

Her heart started racing, her father was likely furious or upset with worry. Probably both. Her hands were clenched into fists, the bed sheets crumpled up between them. 

She was about to dash out of bed when a voice interrupted her growing panic.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright.” Peach was slowly sitting up in her chair. “I called Sigmund earlier this morning and let him know you’d be staying at least another day.”

It took a moment for Daisy to comprehend what she said but eventually she calmed down. A few seconds later she finally responded.

“Thanks,” Daisy said, her voice hoarse and weak.

She stared down into her lap trying to figure out what to say to Peach. She was mortified as she remembered what had happened the previous night. Her outbursts, her panicking, her sobbing. She desperately wished she could take it all back.

_ She hates me. I know she does. There’s no way she would want to stay friends after I woke half the castle up like a crying child,  _ she thought before an even more terrifying revelation came to mind.

She called herself Daisy in front of Peach. She couldn’t take that back.

_ Peach knows. Everyone will find out. Everyone— _

“Hey, you spaced out again. Is everything okay?” Peach asked.

She noticed Peach had reached out to hold her hand again but stopped herself short.

“Just forget about last night,” Daisy stated coldly. “I wasn’t in my right mind, it happens sometimes. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

“Daisy.”

Daisy froze, her eyes widened. An eternity seemed to pass as she waited to hear what Peach had to say. 

_ This is it, _ she thought.  _ I have to come up with some excuse or lie or something. I can’t let this ruin everything. _

“Yeah, that’s… that’s my girlfriend’s name.” she started to make up. “We’re just going through a rough patch and—”

“Please don’t lie to me.”

“—and I was just thinking about it so much last night and it just really got messy so you don’t—” 

“Why did you say your name was Daisy? You don’t… You don’t have to talk to me about it if you don’t want to, but please don’t lie to me.”

Her farce of a story faded into silence as Peach talked over her.

“I promise that no matter what it is, I’ll still be here for you.”

“You’ll hate me if I tell you. You’ll think I’m disgusting,” Daisy mumbled.

“I won’t.”

Daisy could see she meant it in those big blue eyes of hers. She took a deep breath and braced herself just in case.

“Daisy is… Daisy is what I wish my name was.”

“Well, I think it’s a cute name, but that’s not all, is it?”

Daisy blushed lightly upon hearing her name called cute, and by Peach no less.

“…No. I’ve just been thinking about my life lately and… I’m really not happy. Which is just, so absurdly and incredibly selfish considering I’m literally the ruler of a kingdom. What do I have to be sad about? It’s… honestly really just funny.”

Peach got up and sat down on the side of the bed, she reached her hand out and looked at Daisy for permission. She gave a gentle nod and Peach placed her hand on Daisy’s and gently squeezed it. The causticity was gone from last night, instead replaced with her regular soft and comforting touch.

“But… I realized a lot of that sadness wasn’t because of my responsibilities being too much to handle some days or my dad being a jerk sometimes. Like, Siggy really helps me out a ton and my dad and I can go from yelling at each other over the stupidest things to excitedly talking about some new movie or show we watched.”

Daisy swallowed before continuing on to the hard part.

“Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw someone I hated. Every time someone called me Prince or Florian, it hurt so badly. It’s gotten so bad that I can’t even enjoy taking a bath, I have to take a shower with my eyes closed the entire time or risk having another panic attack.”

Peach reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a box of tissues, then handed it to Daisy. She didn’t even realize she’d started tearing up already. She wiped her eyes dry and continued.

“One night, I fell asleep watching a documentary on Flower Fields. I ended up dreaming about being in an endless field filled with all sorts of flowers. It was gorgeous but, more importantly, I was a girl inside that dream. I could look down and see a body that wasn’t disgusting. I could walk around with long hair and wearing a cute dress. It was… so wonderful. Having to wake up from that dream was so much worse than any nightmare I’ve ever had.”

“So, you want to be a girl?” Peach asked without a hint of malicious intent.

“…I think I already am.”

“Does your father know?”

“Oh no, no way. He’s so proud of his  _ son _ , the  _ Prince  _ of Sarasaland. There’s no way I can tell him any of this.”

“So what do you want to do about it?”

“What?” Daisy asked, genuinely confused.

“So, let me know if I get any of this wrong: You’re suffering because you don’t look the way you feel and it’s gotten to the point where you have panic attacks.”

“…Yeah. That’s basically right.”

“Sounds like there’s a pretty simple solution,” Peach stated confidently.

“Huh?”

Daisy saw a smile growing on Peach’s face. A smile she hadn’t seen in years, it was that devious smile she only ever had when they had set up an especially good prank.

“Let’s go to my room.”

Peach gave her one last gentle squeeze before calmly getting up and walking out the door. Daisy sat in bed dumbfounded for a brief moment before slowly walking out the door after her. Daisy had no idea if she was more terrified or excited for what Peach was planning.

* * *

By the time Daisy stumbled into Peach’s room, she had already assembled three outfits on her bed with a fourth being carried.

“What is happening right now?” Daisy asked.

“We’re giving you a makeover.”

“What? Like, right now?”

“Yes, why not?”

Daisy struggled to come up with a good excuse. She never got a chance though, as Peach had already stuffed several pieces of clothing into her hands.

“You’ve got a pretty similar build to me so all of these should fit but let me know if you have any issues.”

“But, but—” Daisy continued trying to come up with an excuse but was yet again interrupted. 

“No buts! You’ll thank me later.” Peach laughed as she pushed her into the bathroom and closed the door.

Daisy desperately wished she could get mad at Peach right then and there but deep down, she knew she was right. 

She really wanted this. 

Daisy looked at the clothes she was handed, there was some underwear and what looked like a pink sweater and white pants. She wasn’t sure how this would make her look feminine besides the underwear and colors but she trusted her friend.

* * *

Daisy stepped out of the bathroom. She hadn’t looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, she knew she would’ve chickened out if she had.

“Oh my gosh,” Peach said with her mouth covered.

_ I knew it, I must look so stupid in this,  _ Daisy thought.

“You’re so cute!” Peach nearly screamed. “Pink doesn’t really look like your color but the outfit itself looks incredible on you.”

Daisy was sure she was pulling a prank on her. She looked at the big mirror on the wall, expecting to see the world’s worst prank.

Instead she saw a cute girl. 

A cute girl wearing a long off shoulder sweater that showed off her collarbones and white capris pants. The push-up bra she was wearing gave her a subtle hint of a bust. There was a girl in that mirror staring back at her. 

There was a girl in that mirror.

Daisy was crying, but she was also smiling for the first time that day. She hugged Peach tightly and mumbled thank you’s onto her neck. Peach held her friend in her arms, making sure she knew this was real.

“I just hope you don’t cry after putting on each of these outfits,” Peach whispered gently.

Daisy gave her a playful punch in the shoulder.

“Don’t ruin my moment, jerk,” Daisy mumbled with a big smile on her face.

* * *

Daisy stood on the white stone bridge in front of Peach’s Castle. As much as she didn’t want to, Daisy had changed back into the masculine clothing she came in. Daisy had spent the previous day trying on all sorts of outfits and dresses Peach had pulled out for her. Peach was right about pink not being her color but she could overlook that detail because of how good she felt wearing those clothes.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay another day?” Peach asked.

“Yeah, my dad’s probably freaking out over my safety right now.”

“He’s so overprotective.”

“That says a lot coming from you of all people,” Daisy joked.

Peach rolled her eyes before going in for a hug. 

“This time, don’t take a few years to visit me again.”

“I won’t. I promise.” Daisy hugged her back in silence for a long while before separating.

“Are you taking a warp pipe back?” Peach asked.

“Yup. As much as I love watching the scenery on the airship route to and from here, I just wanna lay in bed and sleep for a million years right now.”

“Somehow I doubt Sigmund would let you rest that long,” Peach giggled.

Daisy’s face scrunched up a little.

“I’ll just tell him I’m feeling under the weather.”

“Well, give your father my regards. I better see you soon.”

Daisy smiled and materialized a warp pipe on the ground in front of the castle. She stepped onto it and waved at Peach as she went down it. In nearly an instant, she was in front of her own castle.

“Well young man, I hope you had fun. We have a lot of business to catch you up on.” A gruff voice scolded her.

The warp pipe lowered into the ground and left Daisy standing in front of a relatively tall and somewhat imposing man. She looked up at his bearded face before speaking.

“Hi, Dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure about how often I'll update, right now I'll just be posting whenever I have a chapter ready to publish.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	3. Day to Day

The King of Sarasaland pointlessly led Daisy throughout most of the castle as he lectured her. She had heard speeches like this hundreds of times over the years and she could not help but tune them out by now. She just nodded and mindlessly agreed as her father continued on, hoping it would end soon.

She thought about all the outfits Peach had her try on the day before, and especially about the cute girl she saw in the mirror. They didn’t even get to do make up and yet she was already so happy with how she looked. For once she felt motivation, she wanted, no, _needed_ to be that girl. And not just secretly in her friend’s room but in public, so everyone would acknowledge her. She had a goal now, she just had no idea where to even begin to work toward it.

“—And once again, the Pyrapt Kingdom is experiencing a major water shortage. We should make sure to set aside funding for constructing additional infrastructure to help prevent this in the future. The new jobs that will create will be an added bonus as well. In related business, the Muda Kingdom— Florian are you even listening?”

She considered her options. Peach would likely help her with anything she came up with thankfully. She still felt incredibly relieved her panicked confession didn’t make a giant mess for her to deal with. It did, however, make her feel guilty that she couldn’t even trust her best friend with her secret. Of course Peach would have been accepting, she’s never indicated any reason she wouldn’t have been. Her emotions began exploding within her. Her thoughts spiraling downward, a swirl of guilt and shame—

“Florian!”

“Huh, wha—”

For once, her father interrupting her thoughts had been a blessing.

“Are you even listening?” 

“Y-yeah, sorry,” Daisy answered meekly.

“I swear, you need to work on focusing more. We can’t have you spacing out like that in the middle of important meetings.”

“Yeah. Right.”

“So, as I was saying…”

* * *

Daisy fell face down onto her bed. It was nearly midnight and she had spent the whole day with her father explaining what needed to be done. She had almost grown used to his endless barrage of new concerns and issues being explained in greatly unnecessary detail over the past year. But no matter how hard she tried to ignore everything he said, she still ended up utterly exhausted by the end of the day. 

Despite what his graying beard would have you believe, Daisy’s father was still energetic in his own way. What he lacked in physical strength and athleticism, he more than compensated with intellect and strategy. And despite spending so much of Daisy’s life attempting to instill some aspects of himself on her, she stubbornly refused to take them on for herself. Not that Daisy was unqualified to rule, she had all the skills necessary. She would just rather efficiently delegate tasks to those more qualified than her rather than try to take everything on by herself as her father always did. 

But she was tired of thinking about that. She would just carry on as normal until she got another chance to visit Peach. And she would use any opportunity to do so.

* * *

Days passed, then weeks, and everything was returning to some form of normalcy once again. It was beginning to feel as if her visit to Peach’s Castle was just one long elaborate dream. A dream she could remember so clearly and longed to repeat once more. It was becoming harder for Daisy to concentrate on her day to day duties, she had a taste of the life she desired more than anything and she desperately needed another.

“—complaining about tax rates again but, we should be able to lower them next month assuming…” The King paused for a moment and frowned. “I don’t know why I even bother, you’ve been so scatterbrained the past month. Do we need to see someone about this?”

Once more, Daisy was snapped back to reality against her will. 

“No no, it’s fine. I’ve just been distracted by something is all.”

“It’s becoming an issue. You’re falling behind schedule, the petitions are starting to pile up,” he said as he stood up and walked over to the nearby desk. The King placed his hand on a stack of paperwork precariously piled up on it. “I know there’s a lot of frivolous requests for more golf tournaments or kart races but there _are_ important requests to handle as well.”

The King handed Daisy a piece of paper from the top of the pile.

“This one,” he continued, “is asking for a letters patent to make the newly formed Kart Manufacturer’s Guild officially recognized. Why haven’t you granted it yet?”

“I’m sorry, okay! I’ve just had a lot on my mind.”

“Sorry’s not good enough, you’re the Regent Prince for heaven’s sake. You have to take responsibility for our people. Would you be able to handle running the kingdom if I were to suddenly become incapable?”

“...I don’t know,” Daisy muttered.

“That’s not an answer. Nobody is going to be confident in their future King if he responds to difficult questions with ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t mean to lecture you but this is a very important responsibility being entrusted in you.”

“I know.”

The King walked over to Daisy. He looked down and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I do believe in you, Florian. I just need you to focus for now.”

Daisy nodded.

“Now, next week we have a meeting with several leaders to discuss the Koopa Troop’s recent movements—”

“Is Peach going to be there!?” Daisy interrupted. 

“Hm? I’d be surprised if she wasn’t. Why do you ask? You haven’t developed feelings for the Princess have you?” he asked with a slight smirk. “Was that why you spent a few extra days with her?”

Daisy blushed deeply. She wasn’t sure if she was more upset that he would say something like that out loud or the fact that he saw through her completely.

“N-no. I was just curious is all.”

“Well, do let me know if we need to make arrangements.”

“Dad!” Daisy yelled and crossed her arms. She looked away from her father, primarily to hide her worsening blush.

“Sorry, sorry. I just thought I’d lighten the mood a bit after having lectured you again. I’ll drop it.”

Daisy continued to sit with her arms crossed, thankfully her blush was already beginning to fade. Her father continued where they left off, discussing other important matters as well as looking over reports of various encampments popping up, crawling with Bowser’s minions. 

Daisy was beginning to feel a pit in her stomach as she looked over the reports. She had a very bad feeling Bowser was up to something bigger than one of his usual ploys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter this time. Just wanted to make sure I got something out for the New Year to keep my motivation going. Next chapter will be much more substantial.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	4. Misunderstandings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags have been updated.

The summit had gathered and discussed various plans and strategies for what seemed like an impending attack by Bowser’s Army. The meetings were long and tedious and Daisy could barely stay awake during them. What was keeping her awake was her lack of impulse control. She couldn’t help but steal glances at Peach throughout the meetings. She felt guilty doing it but she could’ve sworn she saw Peach doing it back too. 

That was impossible though, she was obviously just imagining it.

Hours passed and the last meeting of the summit had finally finished.

Daisy flopped onto Peach’s bed face first. 

“Are you alright F-, erm, Daisy?” asked Peach.

Daisy flinched slightly at the pause but relaxed quickly. She answered the question with a series of muffled words before what sounded like a scream, though Peach couldn’t tell for sure. Peach walked over and sat next to her and rubbed one of her shoulders.

“It’s just two more days of meetings.”

Daisy flipped onto her back and let loose a frustrated sigh.

“How do you deal with all this sh- ...crap all the time?” Daisy asked.

“Delegation, mostly,” she replied with a slight smile.

“Ugh, Dad says I’m not allowed to delegate unless I understand exactly what I’m assigning someone to do. Did your dad make you do all this stuff too?”

“Some of it, not nearly as much as your father is doing though.”

“Great.”

Daisy reached above her head and grabbed a pillow from the dozens laying on Peach’s bed and covered her head with it.

“Bury me with my sword collection, Peach.”

“Collection? You only have two and one of them technically belongs to the kingdom.” 

“It’s... a work in progress.”

The two of them giggled. The next thing Daisy saw was Peach’s face hovering over her uncomfortably close. Before she realized it, she’d moved the pillow to the side and her bright blue eyes were staring down at her. It felt like she spent an eternity staring at Peach, looking over every cute feature on her face, her face slowly turning red, tempted to just sit up and-

“C’mon, let’s go do something,” Peach stated, almost as if it were an order.

Thankfully, it had managed to snap Daisy out of her stupor. 

“Like what? The guards aren’t gonna let us out of the castle at this hour.”

“Just follow me.” Peach said as she grabbed Daisy’s hand and pulled her out of bed.

Normally this wouldn’t be any cause for alarm for Daisy, but Peach was still holding her hand. Surely, Daisy thought, she just hadn’t realized she was still holding on. But when Peach was still holding her hand at the end of the hallway, she was beginning to sweat. She’d never been more thankful for the gloves her royal attire included. 

The two of them walked down another few halls and down a staircase before Daisy’s nervousness was replaced with curiosity when she noticed the halls were beginning to look unkempt.

“Whoa, what’s up with the cobwebs?” she asked.

“Barely anyone ever comes down here, they only get cleaned every few months or whenever a new cleaner tries to leave a good impression.”

Curiosity became concern as the bright and cheery sky wallpaper was slowly replaced with raw masonry.

“Jeez, Peach. Who the hell would a basement this massive.”

“It’s not much further now.”

Peach was acting bizarre. Daisy could very clearly see that now and she was now trying to figure out why. Mind control, brain washing, possession? Or maybe a duplighost, perhaps? Wait, but that would mean this isn’t Peach. Where could they be keeping her, she thought. Her mind was racing as she tried to figure out what exactly was wrong with her friend.

“We’re here.”

The two girls stood in front of a massive vault door. 

“What is this place?”

“It’s the kingdom’s storage vault for magical items and technology that we need to keep safe. It’s also home to a particular magical item that we’re here for!”

Peach smiled as she easily opened the massive door by placing her palm on it. Inside were dozens of strange contraptions, intricate rods, and other weird objects.

Several racks of magical rods were placed near the entrance. Various E. Gadd branded inventions lined the walls, and two rows of shelves were filled with jars of various mushrooms. Several display cases with bizarre artifacts and devices formed a grid in the center of the room.

She led Daisy to the mushroom section and stopped in front of one.

“So, after your last visit I did some research and found out we actually have these!”

Peach held up a glass jar containing several mushrooms, each with circular arrow patterns.

“Inversion Mushrooms! I looked up how they work and basically when you eat one it inverts one aspect of yourself into its opposite one. And the best part is that it knows exactly what you want to change!”

_Oh._

“According to the notes, they can do some really crazy things. One of the people who worked on this strain gave one to his blind grandmother and she inverted her eyesight and could see again. It’s a bit too powerful so we don’t make it available to everyone but I can make an exception for you!”

_Oh no._

“Pretty neat, huh!”

_Please don’t._

“So I guess you just eat one and you can become a _real_ girl.”

_Screw this._

“I don’t want it.” Daisy curtly responded.

“Y-huh?”

“I said, I don’t want it.”

Peach looked at her confused, as if someone was dying and just turned down a miracle cure.

“But, why not? Wouldn’t that fix everything.”

_Fix._

“Is that all I am to you? A mistake that needs to be fixed?”

“O-oh. Um… I’m sorry. I just thought-”

“What? You thought what? That you know what’s best for me? That I’m just some broken toy you can just magically fix and suddenly everything wrong with me would disappear?” Daisy snapped, tears welling in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Daisy. I… I should’ve asked you first, but I just don’t understand. Isn’t this what you want?”

“Every morning I wake up and I see my body. I see the facial hair I need to shave, the body hair I despise. My _chest_. I hate looking like this so badly...”

Peach reached out for Daisy but she recoiled, nearly knocking over a display case behind her.

“Shoot, I-I’m sorry, I forgot.” Peach quickly blurted out.

“I need some time alone, I’m going back to my room. Please don’t follow me.” Daisy sounded as if her life had been drained from her. She could no longer hold back her tears as she walked past Peach.

* * *

Daisy mashed her face into the pillow in her room once more. She was getting used to breathing through the small gaps between her face and the pillow.

She was conflicted. She was mad and upset at Peach for assuming so many things about her but she knew she was just trying to help.

 _I probably could have handled that better._

The regret of losing her temper faded but in its place, paranoia.

_She’s never gonna talk to me again. I messed up. I messed up so badly._

The rate of her breathing began to increase. She ran scenarios through her head, all ending in her losing her only real friend. More and more thoughts began to violently force their way into her mind. 

She began to mumble swears out loud, keeping her voice down so no one would hear her, despite how badly she wished someone would. 

Daisy stumbled out of bed, her breathing becoming difficult, her vision blurred. She nearly fell over twice as she forced her way into the bathroom and ran the cold water, filling the basin to the top before forcing her head under the water, which felt nearly frozen to her. She stood there, face below the water for five seconds. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty. Forty. Fifty.

Her lungs could no longer take it and she gasped for air. She fell backwards as she pulled up, yelping in the process and nearly hit her head on the metal towel rack. She was stuck in a coughing fit that felt like eternity. 

Daisy just sat on the wet bathroom floor for half an hour, silent. Not even tears were still flowing by this point.

_I’m not okay. I’m not okay. I’m not okay. I’m not okay. I’m not okay._

Somehow, what terrified her the most was if she locked the door to her room or not. The last thing she needed was some nosy toad hearing the commotion she made and seeing if she was okay. Her father, and especially not Peach, could not be allowed to realize just how utterly incapable of anything she was.

Thinking about that was a mistake, she soon realized, as it was no better than tempting fate.

She heard a gentle knock on her door.

 _Crap._ **_Crap._ ** _I can’t let Peach see me like this._

Daisy quickly stood up, nearly slipping in the process. She tore the towel hanging off the mirror and dried herself off with it before ineffectually throwing it onto the towel rack.

Another knock, this time much more firm.

She quickly put on a robe and smoothed out her hair before opening the door.

Standing there was her father, not Peach as she expected.

“Oh, uh, hey Dad? What’s going on?”

Several Toad Guards ran past behind him, obviously in a hurry. As her vision cleared up she noticed her father had an escort of guards as well.

“The Princess is missing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting a new chapter out. I'm hoping to write more in March but I still can't promise a more consistent update schedule. Regardless, assume it's still being worked on until I explicitly say otherwise. 
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	5. Non-Starter

The castle was on full alert. Toads ran everywhere, the veterans among the fresh faces were calm and understood what to do in these situations, unlike the others running in panic.

The guard was mobilizing a defense force in case an attack on the castle was coming. Meanwhile, Toadsworth ran around giving orders to anyone he saw. Despite looking completely terrified, he was still performing his job without fail. 

The King of Sarasaland stood in front of his daughter, his face was stern but concerned.

“What do you mean missing, I just saw her less than an hour ago? How did she get kidnapped that quickly?” Daisy yelled.

“I don’t know the specifics, all we know is that she’s not in the castle at least,” her father replied somberly.

“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go get her back from Bowser. It’s obvious he took her again.”

“Hold on there, son. We can’t just march against Bowser, who knows what the casualties would be like. It’s best if we just wait for Mario to-”

“Screw that! We haven’t heard from him or his brother in months, who knows when either of them will be back!”

“Florian…”

Daisy slammed the door in her father’s face and scrambled around her room. She quickly got dressed and grabbed the sheathed sword hanging off a chair and attached it to her belt. The door opened as she was almost done. Her father walked in, he was beginning to look worried, almost as if panic was about to set in. 

“Florian, you’re seriously not thinking of going after her by yourself, are you?” 

“Why not? I can handle myself. You’re the one who made me take self-defense training.”

“ _Self-defense_! Not assault or siege tactics, and especially not by yourself!”

“I’m going.”

“Please, just think this through. You can’t keep making rash decisions like this! You’re supposed to be a guiding voice for our people. How can they trust that voice if he stupidly goes off on his own to fight an entire army?”

“Pretty sure that’s exactly what Mario does and everyone respects him,” Daisy replied curtly. 

Daisy walked past her father and headed toward the main entrance hall. Her father chased after, still pleading for her not to go. She just ignored him, it wasn’t worth the energy to keep refuting him. Several Toads took notice of the scene unfolding and wondered what exactly Daisy would be capable of on her own, especially since in their eyes, all she’d done was get kidnapped once before. 

* * *

A few hours had passed since Daisy had left, and she’d already made it to Bowser’s Castle before the sun came up. It was surprisingly easy, most of his army were gathered up at the encampments marked on the map she still had from the meetings. His castle exterior was left mostly unguarded beyond a Goomba and Koopa standing guard at the main gate, seemingly chatting away instead of actually watching for possible enemies. 

“You finish watching The Sporeanos yet?” the Koopa asked.

“Nah man, Bowser keeps cutting our TV hours to make us run errands for his kid. I don’t know why he always sends Goombas shopping, it's not like we even have hands.”

“Yikes, that’s rough buddy. Hey, y’know, some of the other Koopas were talking about unionizing. You know any Goombas that might be interested?”

“Whoa really? I thought Bowser outlawed those,” the Goomba asked.

“Of course he did but what’s he gonna do, fire us? He doesn’t have anyone else who’ll do this crap for him all day.”

“Huh, good point. I’ll let some of the boys know.”

“Right on. I thi-”

The side of a sword slapped the koopa across the face, launching him backwards out of his own shell directly into the wall, knocking him onto his back, helpless. The goomba barely had time to react as their assailant kicked his buddy's shell into his face, flattening him. Daisy pulled the lever and the gate began to rise. After opening just a bit, she slid past under it and continued on her way.

A muffled voice yelled out.

“We’re gonna negotiate for better healthcare too, right?” the Goomba asked, intense pain obviously present in his voice.

“If we weren’t before, we are now. I _hate_ this job,” the Koopa responded before giving up on trying to get himself back up. 

* * *

Daisy quickly fought her way through Bowser’s defenses, past lava pits and fire pillars, spikes and crushing traps. Countless amounts of Bowser's goons were defeated until she finally made it to the massive spiky ornate door leading to his throne room. She calmed herself and breathed in deeply, before throwing a bob-omb at the door and breaking it down. She ran in and pointed her sword at the throne before screaming at King Koopa himself. 

“Alright Bowser, where the hell is she!”

Bowser, wide eyed and entirely bewildered, dropped the spoon in his hand into the spike-rimmed bowl filled with cereal he was eating. 

“Huh? Where’s who? I don’t even know who you are! What are you doing in my castle!?”

“Peach! Where’s Peach!” Daisy yelled.

“Peach? Look kid, I’m not scheduled to kidnap her for at least another two weeks. You got the wrong guy. Wait did someone _else_ kidnap Peach? I’ll crush them! Nobody intrudes on my turf!” Bowser stood up from his throne and seemed to begin throwing what looked like a tantrum.

“W-wait, you really don’t have her?” Daisy asked in shock.

“Of course not! Everyone would know if I had her, I can’t let my brilliance be oversha-”

“Ugh, if Bowser doesn’t have her, where the hell is she!?”

“Hey! Don’t you dare interrupt me!” Bowser continued to yell at Daisy as she walked off, blissfully ignoring his impotent screams of fury and talk of replacing his incompetent troops.

Daisy continued thinking about where Peach could’ve been taken, before wondering if she had even been taken at all. 

“Oh. _Oh._ Damn it…”

Daisy immediately realized where Peach was.

* * *

Peach sat on the small patch of blue grass at the top of Star Hill. Countless shooting stars had crashed upon the hill for centuries, making it one of the most gorgeous places in the Mushroom Kingdom. It wasn’t often Peach got to come up here alone. In fact, the last time she came here was with Mario, which was its own uncomfortable can of worms. She took Daisy here a few times when they were much younger though. They had to sneak out of the castle to do it but the two of them always loved having picnics on the summit. 

She looked up into the sky and wondered if Daisy would ever speak to her again. She was so furious with her. She deeply regretted not asking her about the mushrooms first. Peach didn't have very many real friends, and what little friends she did have had a lot of awkward baggage attached. She liked Mario well enough, and always appreciated his help, but it was genuinely impossible to keep a conversation going with him. It's almost like talking to a brick wall. His brother was better in that regard but he had his own share of strange and awkward behaviors that just made it difficult to interact with him. 

Daisy, though. Daisy was different, they'd known each other for so long and gotten so close to each other over the years. They were comfortable around each other, they told each other about everything in their lives. Well, until they started drifting apart as they got older. Really, it wasn't either of their faults, they genuinely just had less time to spend casually as they gained more and more responsibility over the years. It's no wonder Daisy never told her about the feelings she was having about herself. Learning she had a secret like that was shocking, at first, but in the end, it really didn't make a difference to her. Daisy's still the same person she's always cared about, their friendship wasn't going to change just because of something like that.

Which is why screwing up this badly made things so much worse. Peach had a really bad habit of trying to "fix" everyone's issues. She's a Princess, of course it's her job to help her people and solve their issues. But applying that kind logic to an individual usually doesn't work out too well. You start to lose the emotion and compassion involved with caring about someone and everything feels unnatural. Clinical even. Unfortunately, nobody had pointed that nasty habit out to her until Daisy. Peach was furious at herself for not catching it herself before it ended up costing her something precious to her.

She hoped Daisy would forgive her one day, though she felt she didn’t deserve it after trying to forcibly "fix" all of her issues. 

* * *

Daisy ran up the central spire of Star Hill and saw Peach sitting on the grass patch, her shoes neatly placed to her side. Her exhaustion finally caught up to her as she walked up next to Peach, struck the sword down into the dirt next to her and collapsed into a sitting position.

“D-Daisy?” Peach gasped.

“Hey. Thought you... might be up here.”

Daisy fell onto her back and outstretched her legs. She stared at the shooting stars above them for a while, as the two of them just sat there silently.

“I guess the castle must be in a real panic since I disappeared.” Peach broke the silence.

“Oh, yeah. It’d be chaos if it weren’t for all the vets keeping it orderly.”

Peach pulled her legs up and rested her face on her knees. 

“Toadsworth is gonna kill me.”

“Sorry, I got first dibs.” Daisy replied.

“Still mad at me?”

“...Yeah. Buuuut, I know you were just trying to help, however misguided it was.”

“I’m still really sorry about that.”

“You better be.” Daisy said with a smile. She sat back up and Peach gave her a side hug. Daisy’s face returned to it’s growingly familiar red but returned the hug nonetheless. She wasn’t sure if she had completely forgiven Peach yet but their fights never lasted long anyways. She decided right then and there to explain more about what her plans for herself are, however. Later. She desperately did not want to have that conversation right now. 

"When we get back, could you explain some stuff for me? I do wanna help but I want to make sure I don't hurt you in the process by making assumptions again." 

"Yeah. I'm, uh, probably going to be mortified the entire time seeing as I haven't really said any of it out loud before but, I'll uh, try to get through it." Daisy replied, a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "Also, I'm sorry for losing my temper." 

"You don't need to apologize for that, it did make me realize I really was treating you like a toy rather than a person. I promise I'll ask you about stuff and for permission before trying to do something like that again." Peach smiled and leaned in close to Daisy as she said that. 

"Thanks." Daisy's blush reddened a bit more and she tried to hide her face. Peach smiled at her and placed a hand on one of Daisy's and gave her a gentle squeeze. Daisy's poor heart would've exploded right then and there if she weren't too exhausted to be even more embarrassed than she already was. 

“Um, not to derail, but, why do you have your sword with you?” Peach asked.

“Oh that? I, uh, may have assaulted Bowser’s Castle on my own looking for you.”

Peach giggled at the joke before looking at Daisy’s face and seeing she wasn’t laughing. A second later and she realized just how exhausted Daisy looked. 

“Wait, you’re serious?” Peach asked, confusion forming on her face.

“Yeah. Honestly, it was ridiculously easy. How does he keep kidnapping you? You know how to fight and you’ve got like, actual magic and stuff I don't.”

Peach gave a slight grimace as she shifted her eyes left and right. 

“...Honestly?" Peach Hesitated for a moment. "...I kinda feel bad for the guy.” 

Daisy looked at Peach as if she'd just murdered a man in front of her.

“Seriously? You just… let him kidnap you?” Daisy asked in complete and utter disbelief.

“I mean, you saw it yourself. His troops are incompetent _at best_ , he barely has a commanding presence, and his kid isn’t any better than he is. Unless he’s messing with some powerful artifact or teaming up with someone genuinely evil, he’s way more of a danger to himself and his troops than me.”

“Jeez, Peach, that’s… man, now _I_ feel bad for the guy. Wait so, this whole summit?”

“...It’s better if everyone believes he’s a real threat. Less chance of everyone fighting over territory if we have a common enemy to unite against, right?”

“...I don’t know whether that’s incredibly genius or absolutely evil. Does Mario know about this?”

Peach simply shrugged, genuinely unaware if he knew or not.

“Okay, yeah. I can never really get a read on that guy either… So then, this is what I’ve got to look forward to when I’m fully in control of my kingdom?”

“I mean, it’s not _all_ lies and deceit. Most of it really is just doing your best to help people. But sometimes, you have to make some questionable decisions for the good of your people. If it makes you feel any better, I promise I won’t keep any more secrets from you. You already aren’t so it’s only fair.”

Daisy’s heart skipped a beat as she said that.

“R-right. Fair’s fair. Ha ha.” Daisy failed to avoid having her words come out sounding fake and stilted but thankfully for her, Peach didn’t seem to notice.

“We should probably get back to the castle and let them know I’m alright.”

“Yeah, guess we should let them know you were safe the entire time.”

“I mean, we could do that. _Or_ , we could say you rescued me from Bowser. It’s technically not a lie.” Peach said with a sly smile.

Daisy looked at Peach with widened eyes. 

"I can see the headlines now, _Heroic Princess Rescues Mushroom Monarch On Her Own_!" Peach moved her hand across an imaginary line in front of her as she said the theoretical headline. 

“Seriously though, when did you get this underhanded?” Daisy asked. 

“Turns out all those pranks you involved me in eventually rubbed off on me.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault I’ve _corrupted_ your innocence?” Daisy pretended to sound insulted.

“Of course, the devilish Princess of Sarasaland was a truly _wicked_ influence on the young and impressionable Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom!” 

The two girls laughed as they began walking down the spire. Daisy thought things were finally going to start going well for her.

Later that same night, she would come to regret that thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't expect consistency, I say as I upload two chapters in as many days. Sometimes I get a burst of motivation and my free time line up and I can get some writing done but don't expect it too often. Though, I'll try my hardest not to make you all have to wait a month for this cliffhanger to get resolved.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	6. You Could Cut It With A Knife

“Prince Florian! Princess Peach please, you must hurry!”

The two princesses had barely arrived at the front gates of Peach’s castle before a Toad guard was yelling for them.

“What’s wrong?” asked Daisy.

“It… It’s your father! After you left he went ballistic at some of the guards and stormed off. I’ve never seen the King of Sarasaland so furious before,” the Toad guard said.

 _Crap._ Daisy thought.

“Um, I’m sure everything will be fine! After all, neither of us got hurt, right?” Peach nervously said, thought it was obvious she was saying that more for her own benefit at that point.

“Did you see where my dad went?”

“He went to his guest room I believe.”

“Oh he better not have…” Daisy mumbled under her breath. She hurried down the halls of the castle, with Peach following close behind. 

The door to her father’s guest room was cracked open slightly, only darkness visible within.

“Peach, just go back to your room, okay?” Daisy said weakly.

Peach shook her head.

“I’m staying out here, just… just in case anything happens.”

Daisy opened her mouth to argue but quickly realized by the face Peach was making that any attempt at arguing would be entirely futile. 

“Okay,” Daisy stated.

She left Peach and went inside her father’s guest room. The room smelled of wine and it was easy to see why; two empty bottles of Chuckola Sauvignon were on the table, with a third bottle half-spilled onto the floor. Her father lay next to it snoring loudly and blissfully unaware of his unbecoming appearance. Daisy kneeled down and gently shook him awake.

“Wha-wha time is it? What time is it...” her father continued mumbling on his own.

“It’s late, Dad. Let’s get you into bed, okay?”

The King of Sarasaland merely gave a mumbled “uh-huh” in response. Daisy put his arm around her shoulder and gently lifted him onto his feet. He began stumbling almost immediately but she held him stable.

“Easy does it, Dad. Just take slow steps.”

The King did as he was told and slowly moved toward the bed, leaning on his daughter for support. After a solid minute of carefully navigating the seven feet path to his bed, he dropped into bed and rolled over onto his back.

“C’mon,” Daisy said as she rolled him back onto his side facing the edge of the bed, “there we go.”

She put a few pillows behind the back of his head to keep him from rolling back. She grabbed a glass from the guest’s provision of kitchenware and headed into the bathroom. She filled the glass with water from the bathroom sink and took the trash can with her. 

She sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed her father’s graying hair out of his eyes.

“I’ll be right back. Just get some sleep and don’t try to get out of bed. I left a glass of water on the bedside table and the trash can is right here,” she said in a gentle voice.

He responded with several incoherent grunts but Daisy took it as a sign of understanding. After a few more seconds of watching over her father, she turned her head to see the door cracked open before quickly closing.

Daisy stood up and walked out of her father’s room to see Peach standing to the side of the door. She walked up to her right and leaned against the wall before letting out a huge sigh.

“Very subtle, by the way.” Daisy said.

Peach paused before responding with a quiet “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You were bound to find out eventually.”

“Does he— is he always like that?”

“No. He’s been— was good about it for the last year and even before it really only happened once every few months. Ever since...” a short pause followed Daisy’s trailing sentence.

“The Queen...”

“Yeah.”

What felt like an eternity passed before either of them spoke up. Daisy’s eyes kept darting back to the room, listening to make sure her father would start snoring again.

“Has he ever—“

“No.”

Peach felt almost stunned at how quickly she responded.

“Don’t even think about it. I know we don’t get along too well but not once has he ever actually hurt me or even threatened to.”

“I wasn’t—”

“You were,” Daisy cut her off even sharper than before. 

“I’m sorry.” Peach said.

“ _Stop_ saying sorry,” Daisy snapped back. She slowly let herself slide down the wall and was soon sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chin.

For several minutes, the two of them stayed in the hallway completely silent and staring blankly ahead at the wall in front of them. Peach started to fidget uncomfortably. Eventually, her father’s snoring was audible from the room.

“I’m not mad at you,” Daisy finally spoke up, “I’m just frustrated. And stressed. From a lot of things. And I’m probably taking it out on you.”

Peach slid down to Daisy’s level, knees bent and legs to her left side. She gently leaned her shoulders against Daisy’s. 

“I know I don’t have the best track record with this kinda thing right now but, I’m willing to stay quiet and listen if you need to air them out.” 

“I don’t think that would help,” Daisy lied.

“Well, if you ever need me, just let me know.”

 _I desperately need you,_ Daisy thought. She hid her face between her knees to avoid showing Peach how red her face was just from thinking that.

Peach started to lean closer. Her soft hair started to tickle her as it touched the skin on her neck. Daisy quickly stood up.

“I’m gonna— I’m gonna go check on my dad. You should get some sleep. I’ll be fine tonight.”

Before Peach could even respond, Daisy walked into her father’s guest room.

* * *

“Ah, it does my old heart good to see the youth taking care of their elders,” said one of the many rulers in the banquet hall.

Daisy was helping her father get to breakfast the next morning despite his insistence that he was fine. Peach spotted the two of them and got up from her table to say her greetings.

“I said, I’m fine Florian. We shouldn’t make a scene in front of the entire summit,” he whispered.

“Fine, don’t ask me for help if you fall over again,” Daisy whispered back as she began to storm off before suddenly bumping into Peach.

“Oh! Sorry Dai— _Flo_ rian. I suppose I was distracted, my mistake.”

“If anyone should be apologizing it’s my son,” the King replied, a slight hint of scorn in his voice.

“Sorry, Princess,” Daisy said in complete monotone.

“Now if you two will excuse me, I’ll be helping myself to the wonderful spread your chefs have prepared,” the King said as he walked off, his subtle limp only noticed by Daisy.

“Um, sorry I had to call you that,” Peach whispered.

“What? No? It’s fine? Seriously, I’d rather be called that than have to explain why his son is suddenly being called ‘Daisy’ right now.”

As they talked, the two of them moved to a quieter part of the castle.

“Your father certainly looked surprisingly, erm, spritely this morning,” Peach said, almost stumbling through her words.

“Yeah. He’s really good at hiding his hangovers."

"So—" Peach started but Daisy quickly cut her off. 

"So this summit, is there any real point to it considering how absurdly easy it is to just trounce Bowser?" 

"Normally, no. Not really. It’d just be a way to give the various kingdoms the illusion of working together for a greater good and keeping the peace between all of our realms. But this time, I'm… not sure those are even Bowser's troops anymore considering he didn't seem to know what was going on from your story." 

"That's… not good. Who else could it be?" Daisy asked. 

"I honestly haven’t a clue. I'll let you know when I find out but for now, keep this between us. We seriously don't need all the royal families in the region panicking."

"Right." 

"I have to get back to breakfast, I don't want to give Toadsworth a heart attack," she said, giggling with a poorly hidden nervousness behind it. 

"I'm not really hungry, I think I'll just take a walk. Uh, watch over my dad for me? He shouldn’t cause too much trouble." 

"Of course." Peach said with a slight smile. 

Daisy wandered off on her own for a while; she needed to get out of the castle before the walls closing in on her crushed her even more.

* * *

"Hello, my name is Princess Peach. Pleased to meet you," said the little blonde girl dressed head to toe in pink.

"Oh, uh, hi,” a child of similar age responded with a slight blush on their cheeks. Their brown hair had been neater earlier in the day, but it was obvious they had messed it up and haphazardly fixed since then.

"Florian, manners," their father lightly scolded them.

"Oh uh, Prince Florian,” Daisy said, “Nice to meet you too.”

"We practiced this,” her father muttered.

"Oh, dear, don't be so stern. They're still only children,” a woman standing by him whispered to him.

A younger King of Sarasaland sighed but caved in to the whims of his wife. 

“Come now, let’s let the children play without us bearing over them,” the Mushroom King told the King of Sarasaland.

The two pairs of parents left their children under the watchful eye of Toadsworth and several elite guards who respectively gave them distance.

“I like your necklace!” Peach quickly told Daisy, pointing at the Daisy pendant on it.

“Thanks. My mom got it for me after my grandma died.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry. How come she bought you a girls necklace?”

“It’s not a girls necklace!” Daisy hid it beneath her blazer. “Boys can wear necklaces too.”

“They can?”

“Yeah, my mom said so.”

“That’s neat!” Peach yelled genuinely.

The two kids went off to play around the castle grounds, under the protection of the guards. And of course, they would regularly see each other from then on until they grew out of their play dates. Responsibility got in the way but they’d still have their memories. At least, their later ones.

The slow march of time cared not for the memories of children, and soon they faded from existence.

* * *

Daisy sat behind a tree on the edges of the castle’s grounds, far away from any of the toads running around working or playing. She undid the top button on her blazer and pulled a necklace out. A small daisy pendant hung from the golden chain. She stared intently at it.

“Okay, I know we haven’t talked much lately but I promise I’m still thinking about you.”

Daisy held the necklace slightly tighter.

“I finally picked a name a while ago. It was kind of under pressure so I just thought of the first thing that came to mind. Kinda silly, huh? Peach found out because I’m pretty dumb,” She paused, ”I still like her, y’know.”

Daisy looked around behind her to make sure nobody was listening in.

“But yeah, I guess I’m going with Daisy. Yeah, grandma’s old nickname for me. Nobody ever figured out why exactly she called me that, right?” Daisy smiled. “I always liked it though.”

“Still not really sure if you can even hear me, everyone says you just need an heirloom of some kind but I don’t know if this even counts. I know you only bought this for me as a silly little gift when I was still a kid but, it meant so much more to me. I only wish I’d gotten a chance to tell you that in person.”

Daisy looked down at the perfectly trimmed grass. The tiniest amount of a tear had formed and slowly dripped down her cheek.

“I should probably head back to the castle, I don’t wanna worry Dad again. I promise we’ll talk more. Love you, Mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should really stop giving myself deadlines, I tend to write more often when I don't have any. 
> 
> Relatedly: Here's some maybe-not-so-fun behind the scenes stuff so perhaps skip to the next paragraph if you're not in the best state of mind right now: this chapter ended up getting partially rewritten as I originally intended for Daisy's father to faint rather than get drunk and pass out. However, as I was literally writing that version of the chapter my actual father fainted and had to be taken to the hospital. He's perfectly fine now, he just need to stay hydrated more. Regardless, I didn't feel very comfortable writing about that exact situation after it just happened to me so I decided to rewrite that portion of the chapter. I just thought it was an odd coincidence so I thought I'd mention it. Anyways.
> 
> Thank you for reading.
> 
> Especially to those who have put up with my atrocious update pace since December as well as those leaving comments. They genuinely inspire me to write more and I can only hope the writings of a random trans woman on the internet can provide at least some form of relief from everything going on in the world, even if it's only a tiny drop in the bucket.
> 
> Stay safe, everyone.


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